Creation to Christ:Reading 1 - August 8, 2016 - Genesis 1, The Creation of the World

Today's Reading

Context 

We begin a new adventure today, with a simple reading - Genesis 1. We start at the beginning. And what we are looking for is the flow of biblical history, the work of God in time to redeem a people for himself.

The idea for this came from a story we share in Senegal, usually after someone shows a little interest in the other stories or asks questions. It is called "Creation to Christ," telling the Bible's redemptive story in an overview form.

Devotional - What Creation Means

There are few biblical stories on which as much biblical truth is founded as the doctrine of God's creation, and still some treat it as if it doesn't matter. It does. It matters that we believe that our God spoke into nothing and brought this world into existence. It matters that God created a world that was "very good" - a paradise that was not cursed by sin or death. It matters that God created us as the highest of his works, made in God's own image.

Creation shows us that history is linear. There is a beginning and an end to this world's story and life in this world has a purpose. It is "from him and through him and to him." This world is the canvas upon which God paints his masterpiece, the story of redemption that reveals the full glory of God's love and holiness. It's not some random world that is the result of simply natural processes. It is a work of God and God works through time to accomplish his glorious purposes.

The world that God created was very good, another crucial truth. It was a paradise that revealed the goodness of God, but we introduced something foreign into it - sin. We rebelled against God and rejected his plan for humanity, bringing a terrible curse on all of creation. The terrible things we see in this world were not part of God's good creation but part of the corruption of that creation that results from the sin of man.

We are made in the image of God and that is something we must never forget. While God created this world for his own purposes, he also created it for us, so that we could enjoy it and enjoy God in it. We are not just like other animals, we are infused with an eternal soul and called to live our lives for eternity.

Creation reminds us that God works in time. He's not just a faraway God or some mental exercise. He's real. He made this world and he made us. the world belongs to him and exists for him. He is active in this world. It's his world. He made it.

That is the ultimate truth of the story of creation. Since the world was created by the word of God, he holds clear title to it. He owns it and he has absolute rights over all things in it. We exist to give glory to him, since he is the creator. He is not an interloper or usurper, but the rightful Lord of all - he made it all.

This world is a glorious place that will one day be consummated in glory as Jesus rules it. He made it. He owns it. He has the right to rule it. It's his!

Father, help me to remember that you are my maker, my potter. I am clay in your hands. 

Think and Pray

Consider what the truth of God's creation of the world means.
Remember that if God made you, he has all rights of Lordship.